He's a fucking bastard.

Around 3 a.m., Jiang Songhe called a taxi back to the entrance of the residential area. Since outside vehicles were not allowed to enter, he had to ask the security guard at the guard post to raise the barrier to let him through. He rolled down the car window in the back seat and found the guard dozing off with his hands in his sleeves. Not wanting to cause trouble, he got out of the car, swiped his access card at the side gate, and walked back to the villa.

Jiang Songhe tiptoed into the house. The first and second floors were completely dark, so everyone in the house must be asleep. He could only fumble for his car keys in the entryway before going out to pick up his car from the garage and head back to the company.

As soon as the driver's door opened, Jiang Songhe leaned inside and smelled a subtle odor. Although the smell was faint and there was nothing unusual in the car, it still made him tense.

Without even bothering to close the car door, he exited the garage, strode back into the villa, and stumbled up to the second floor in the dark, returning to his room.

The bedroom curtains were not drawn, and the cold, white moonlight shone onto the bed, vaguely illuminating two figures nestled together under the covers.

Her breath caught in her throat. Jiang Songhe pursed her lips, touched the wound on her lips, and walked step by step to the bedside. She stared blankly for a long time, but made no further move.

One of the figures wriggled a few times, poked its silver-haired head out from under the covers, and then slowly sat up.

Caught a glimpse of the large expanse of skin beneath the loose bathrobe, Jiang Songhe instinctively took a few steps back.

Jonathan turned to look at him, saying nothing and showing no obvious emotion. He seemed like a floating cloud, with only the necklace on his chest reflecting a cold light.

Before he could see what was happening behind the obscured back, Jonathan slowly turned around, put his legs off the bed, stood up and faced Jiang Songhe, listening intently to something. After a few seconds, he turned and started walking straight out.

The reappearance of the porcelain doll state robbed Jiang Songhe of her thoughts and attention, and her paranoia was overwhelmed by a deeper fear.

Jonathan was sleepwalking.

The most dangerous time Jiang Songhe encountered was on the top floor of the Maner Tang Dynasty Hotel, when Jonathan was also wearing a bathrobe and almost fell off the railing of the sky garden.

Although a house is not as dangerous as a high-rise building with a double-height ceiling, there are still stairs just a few steps away from the door. Falling down in the dark is no joke.

After holding his breath for too long, Jiang Songhe took a few breaths to calm himself down. Once his breathing and limbs were steady, he quickly walked up to Jonathan, raised his arms slightly and stepped back, trying to guide Jonathan while waiting for an opportunity to stop him and bring him back to the bedroom in a way that wouldn't frighten him.

Jonah's eyes were vacant, yet his expression was unusually absorbed. His thin lips sometimes curved upwards and sometimes downwards, but his feet showed no sign of turning or slowing down. Seeing that they were almost at the top of the stairs, Jiang Songhe hurriedly looked back, took the first few steps down, and turned on the motion-sensor lights on the next few steps.

We can't go any further down, otherwise going downstairs will be easy but going back upstairs will be difficult. If Jiang Songhe carries Jonathan back, he will inevitably block the entire view below, and there is no guarantee that he won't trip and fall. If the person in his arms lands on the back of his head and spine first, the consequences will be unimaginable.

Thinking of this, Jiang Songhe climbed a few more steps, recalling Jonathan's reaction in the Tang Dynasty, and spread his arms wide, ready to lift him up and carry him away.

Unexpectedly, just as Jonathan took a step down the stairs, Jiang Songhe grabbed his arm and tried to put it on her shoulder. The next moment, Jonathan suddenly cried out and tried to pull his arm back. In the struggle, he lost his footing and fell down from above.

Jiang Songhe reacted quickly, grabbing the handrail and lowering his center of gravity to catch the person around the waist.

Jonathan struggled even more violently, his gasps turning into incessant screams.

Jiang Songhe's throat tightened with lingering fear. She swallowed hard a few times before finally catching her breath. Although she wasn't sure if comforting him would still work after unintentionally scaring him, she still tried to say in a hoarse voice, "Don't be afraid, it's me, don't be afraid..."

Seeing Jonathan's screams weaken, he touched his face and patted his back, gently telling him that he was someone he knew and could trust.

Upon hearing the commotion, Vasin hurriedly appeared, stood at the bottom of the stairs on the first floor, said something, and then headed up to the second floor.

Jiang Songhe twisted her stiff neck and was taken aback when she saw Wasin, who had already come up halfway up the stairs. She then took her hand off the handrail and raised her palm behind her to dissuade him: "It's okay, you go back to sleep, I'll carry him back."

Finally, her neck was pulled up and embraced, her soft, damp hair brushing against her chin. Jiang Songhe heard her intermittent murmurs, her collarbone tingling from the breath: "Don't...don't go...stay..."

Jiang Songhe turned her head and caught a glimpse of the back of her neck, where the silver light shimmered slightly and the clasp on it was subtly different.

With her chin resting on the top of her silver hair, she looked closely into the loose collar of her bathrobe and saw only one garment, hers replacing the one she had worn for many years.

My breath hitched, and a wave of guilt washed over me.

What was I even thinking? How could I be so insecure and try to smear others? I'm a complete jerk...

Jiang Songhe was overwhelmed with a feeling of both warmth and guilt, her throat tightening. She withdrew her large hand and pressed it against Jonathan's back, tightening her embrace, her tone filled with remorse: "I won't leave."

"Good girl, hold me tight." Then she gently lifted Jonathan and carried him back to the room, placing him on the bed.

The dusty clothes and shoes challenged her germaphobia, so Jiang Songhe simply lay down with them, avoiding eye contact with the two pillows placed vertically, and gently patted Jonathan's back with her eyes closed.

"Go to sleep, I'm not going anywhere."

-

Jiang Songhe lay there for an hour or two, sometimes awake and sometimes lightly asleep. Only when she heard Jonathan's breathing become steady and long did she carefully remove the two arms from her neck and tuck them into the blanket.

He tiptoed out of bed, covered Jonathan tightly, and turned to go to the bathroom to take a quick shower, shave, change clothes, and go back to the company to prepare for his speech at the 10 a.m. screening meeting.

Actually, the reason I insisted on telling Jonathan to leave first yesterday was because he couldn't focus on thinking when Jonathan was around.

I can't help but wonder if he'll get bored, if I should prepare something for him, and if he'll be disappointed by how mundane his daily work is...

I thought about so many things but couldn't say a single one of them, and in the end, it still led to an unpleasant situation.

After entering the bathroom and closing the door, Jiang Songhe saw that there was still a lot of water in the bathtub. He stared at the water for a while, his Adam's apple bobbing, before stepping in, pressing the drain button, and turning on the shower to clear his mind of all the nonsense.

After tidying herself up from head to toe, Jiang Songhe checked that all the windows on each wall of the room were closed tightly, drew the curtains, picked up her shoes and went downstairs. She went to the storage room and found the baby safety gate that Jiang Songyun used when she was a child, and installed it at the bottom of the stairs on the second floor.

He went downstairs again, left a note with his phone number on the dining table, and then went out to get his car and return to the company.

...

When Jiang Songhe arrived at the company, it was just past seven in the morning. He went back to his office, turned on his computer, and started working on the full-process review PPT of "Yan Ge Xing" that Lin Duole had sent him remotely in the early hours of the morning.

After preparing her draft, Jiang Songhe belatedly realized she was hungry. She left her office, went to the convenience store, grabbed some instant chicken breast and milk, ate, stretched her limbs, and went to the rest area to use the stepper while searching for winter driving guides for Bincheng on her phone.

Before nine o'clock, the sound of the automatic door opening came from the company entrance. Jiang Songhe thought it was Lin Duole, so he went out to greet him and prepared to go straight into the conference room to go over the procedures before the meeting.

Unexpectedly, it was Sister Zheng who came. Recalling the explosive scene yesterday where she caught her and Jonathan, Jiang Songhe subconsciously licked her mouth, looked at each other awkwardly for a moment, and then greeted her: "Sister Zheng, good morning."

"Hey, hey." Sister Zheng rubbed the strap of her shoulder pocket and resumed her path. "Good morning, President Jiang."

Normally, after such pleasantries, they should go their separate ways and go about their own business. However, Jiang Songhe stood at the door of the conference room, not moving an inch. He was racking his brains trying to figure out how to bring up the matter with Sister Zheng and keep the absurd thing he saw yesterday a secret.

"Uh, Sister Zheng, you didn't lose your car keys. They're hanging on the hook at the front desk."

"Oh, oh, alright, alright! You see, my old eyes are getting dim, haha..."

"Um, someone washed your lunchbox and put it on your desk."

"Oh, thank you, thank you! I was just thinking I could do it myself later... This is such a hassle."

"Sister Zheng, yesterday! Yesterday...did you enjoy the food?"

"It's a habit! Little Feng packed some up for me to take home yesterday, and my wife said it was delicious!"

"That's good."

Perhaps because Sister Zheng was from the same hometown and the same age as his deceased mother, Jiang Songhe's words of advice were on the tip of his tongue several times, but he just couldn't bring himself to say them. He kept going around in circles, unable to get to the point.

Being indiscreet in the office is clearly my fault. Asking someone to keep it a secret means I need their help. Maybe I should give her a raise. Besides, Sister Zheng is a senior employee; considering her hard work and seniority, it's time for her to get a raise.

"Sister Zheng, do you come at this time every day?" Jiang Songhe made up her mind and prepared to get to the point. "You've been with the company for almost four years. We'll wait for HR to come to work later. Could you please go see her?"

Sister Zheng's forced smile froze instantly. She had just sat down at the front desk when she hurriedly stood up and said, "President Jiang, please don't! It's my fault! I promise! I'll keep everything from yesterday to myself and never tell anyone! Please don't fire me?"

"..." Jiang Songhe was a little flustered by Sister Zheng, and even doubted whether there was a problem with her expression skills. Thinking that there was a meeting in less than an hour, and that good expression skills would be required at the meeting, her brows furrowed unconsciously.

Upon seeing this, Sister Zheng's eyes immediately welled up with tears: "I know I've worked for you for four years and should feel I've gotten my money's worth. I also know I'm over sixty and an old man, so it's normal for you to think I'm too old and useless. But could you please consider... consider... sob sob..."

What kind of talk is that?!

No matter what, we really can't continue talking, or we'll really be too disrespectful to Jiang Songhe, a junior.

"Sister Zheng!" Jiang Songhe interrupted, her heart clenching. She cut to the chase and got straight to the point. "That's not what I meant. I asked you to talk to HR because I wanted to give you a raise. Starting next month, you'll get a raise of one thousand every month."

"Huh?" Sister Zheng tried to understand, and after half a minute, probably confirming she hadn't misheard, she wiped her eyes and quickly waved her hand, "No need, no need, this is enough! This is my first job in Jingting, and back then, where would anyone want me..."

As she spoke, she almost choked up again. Jiang Songhe's composure, which she had been trying to maintain all morning, was almost disrupted. She glanced at her phone and saw that it was 9:20. Lin Duole was supposed to arrive at 9:30. It would be unacceptable for a junior's junior to see him there.

"There's an important meeting in the main conference room at ten o'clock." Jiang Songhe had no choice but to change the subject. "You can go ahead and do your work."

"Okay, okay, I'll go in and get ready right away!"

"...You've worked hard."